Santorum's tax returns show rise in wealth

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum released four years of federal income tax returns on Wednesday night, showing a sharp rise in his personal wealth spurred by his growing work as Washington-based corporate consultant and media commentator.

Santorum's returns show that his federal income taxes rose from 2007, when he paid $167,000, to $310,000 in 2009, then dropped to $263,000 in 2010. During that same period, his annual income surged from nearly $660,000 in 2007 to $1.1 million in 2009 before slipping to $923,000 in 2010.

Santorum, 53, has sold himself in the Republican primaries as both a Washington outsider and a social conservative, stressing his family's coal-mining background and his appeal to religious and working-class voters. His personal finances tell a different story, detailing the trajectory of a politician who grew more prosperous in the Senate and became a millionaire afterwards, at times capitalizing on his Beltway connections.

His 2010 tax returns show he made more than $550,000 in media and consulting fees — paid to him through a corporation he set up, Excelsior LLC. The previous year, Santorum made more than $820,000 in fees, also paid through the same firm.

Santorum's wealth doesn't come close to the multimillion-dollar fortune amassed by Mitt Romney's high-finance prowess or Newt Gingrich's smaller but still-lucrative blend of foundation and consulting work. But his newfound affluence reflects his close ties to Washington's business and lobbying circles during his 12 years in the Senate and his smooth transition into their world after he left office.

Both Romney and Gingrich recently disclosed income tax returns.

Last year, the former Pennsylvania senator disclosed investment and real estate assets totaling as much as $2.5 million. In his presidential financial disclosure spanning 18 months between 2010 and 2011, Santorum also listed $1.3 million in income as a consultant — much of it coming from media appearances and corporate work on behalf of health care, energy and social conservative interests.

Rising to GOP leadership in the Senate as Republican Conference chairman, Santorum pushed to expand the influence of Republican-leaning business interests. As conference chairman, he headed GOP Senate communications efforts and met regularly with GOP-leaning business and lobbying figures. He raised more than $550,000 from lobbyists during his unsuccessful 2006 Senate re-election campaign.

After his Senate defeat, Santorum did not register as a lobbyist, but he aided corporate and other interests as a consultant. He was paid $142,500 by Consol Energy, a Pennsylvania-based energy firm with numerous Appalachian coal mines. The firm has lobbied against Obama administration efforts to tighten limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

Santorum also was paid $65,000 by the American Continental Group, a D.C. lobbying firm with an assortment of corporate clients, and $125,000 by the Clapham Group, a Virginia firm that aids religious rights organizations. He benefitted from media work, paid $230,000 for appearances on Fox News, as well as more than $80,000 for stints as a radio commentator.

Santorum was also paid nearly $400,000 in compensation and stock options as a board director at Universal Health Services, a hospital management firm, after he left the Senate in 2006. He also owns up to $250,000 in Universal stock. As a senator, Santorum had sponsored several unsuccessful bills that would have secured more Medicaid funding hospitals run by Universal and other medical firms in Puerto Rico.

Santorum also owns five rental properties in State College, Pa., worth $500,000 and $11.25 million, but also with as much as $750,000 in mortgage debt, according to his presidential disclosure. His taxes show that he took mortgage and depreciation deductions on those properties, and also that he sold more than $23,000 worth of stocks in 2010.

Santorum and his wife, Karen, took standard deductions each year for their five children, the returns show. In 2007, the Santorums took a $4,000 charity deduction for giving away "clothing, footwear, accessories and household items." That year, the family moved into a larger home in the Virginia suburbs of Washington.

Santorum and his family now live in a four-bedroom northern Virginia house on five acres assessed at $1.4 million in 2010.

The tax returns were first made available Wednesday night by Politico.

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Santorum made $1 million a year, tax returns show

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s income rose each successive year that he was out of Congress until he was earning about $1 million a year, according to four years of tax returns that the former senator from Pennsylvania made public late on Wednesday.

In 2007, after he lost his bid for reelection, Santorum earned $659,000, mostly from his Washington, D.C.-based consulting business. He made $952,000 in 2008, $1.1 million in 2009, and about $923,000 in 2010. Santorum and his wife, Karen, also made between roughly $42,000 and $45,000 each year from rental properties. 

They paid $167,000 in taxes in 2007, about $262,000 in 2008, $310,000 in 2009, and $263,000 in 2010, meaning they paid between 25 and 30 percent of their income to the government each year. 

Santorum said on CNN Wednesday evening that he thinks he paid an effective rate of 25 to 28 percent on his income, and that he decided to release tax forms for every year he was out of public service. “I thought it was important to let people know what I’ve done since I’ve been in the private sector,” he said.

Santorum is the third 2012 presidential candidate to release tax returns. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich released his 2010 returns, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney made public his 2010 and 2011 returns.

Santorum released the most information of any candidate, and the forms show he paid a higher tax rate than Romney, who paid about 14 percent on mostly unearned income from investments, and a slightly lower rate than Gingrich, who paid about 32 percent in taxes.

Each year, the Santorums gave between $13,000 and $30,000 to charity, with a maximum of $29,882 in 2009. In 2010, he gave $16,289 in charitable donations.

Santorum, who prepares his own taxes, left the campaign trail in late January to prepare them for release. Politico published copies on its website, but other news organizations were not provided copies on Wednesday.

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